In the past few years, constitutional courts have been presented with new challenges. The world financial crisis, the new wave of terrorism, mass migration and other country-specific problems have had wide-ranging effects on the old and embedded constitutional standards and judicial constructions. This book examines how, if at all, these unprecedented social, economic and political problems have affected constitutional review in Europe. As the courts' response must conform with EU law and in some cases international law, analysis extends to the related jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. The collection adopts a common analytical structure to examine how the relevant challenges have been addressed in ten country specific case studies. Alongside these, constitutional experts frame the research within the theoretical understanding of the constitutional difficulties of the day in Europe. Finally, a comparative chapter examines the effects of multilevel constitutionalism and identifies general European trends.
This book will be essential reading for academics and researchers working in the areas of constitutional law, comparative law and jurisprudence.
'This book deals with the constitutional adjudication of ten European peak courts and their compliance with European norms from the perspective of the financial crisis, terrorism and migration. The shelf-life of the findings will be long, because these challenges, and the non-compliance with European values seem to stay with us.'
Gábor Halmai, Professor and Chair of Comparative Constitutional Law at the European Univeristy Institute, Florence
'This book presents a remarkable overview in new developments in constitutional adjudication, a field in permanent evolution and constant pressure from diverging issues, including fundamental rights at a time of growing security concern, legislative reforms under conditions of financial crisis and the extension of supranational law. Covering many relevant controversies, this book invites further research and debate.'
Otto Pfersmann, EHESS (Institute for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences), France
'This timely collection provides specialists and non-specialists alike with a very useful account of how constitutional adjudication across Europe has developed and mutated in different ways to address the many cross-cutting challenges facing Europe at present. With its mixture of framing chapters, country case-studies, and thematic analysis of issues such as 'judicial dialogue' and the role of Europe's international 'constitutional' courts - the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) - this book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of the judicial role in addressing serious governance challenges and crises.'
Tom Gerald Daly, Fellow of Melbourne Law School and Associate Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law